


Lies

by AK_Luizui



Category: VenturianTale Characters (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Angst, Drinking, Drinking to Cope, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Reddit Prompts, Tsundere!Jimmy, lowkey, not too descriptive, slight stripping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2020-01-10 22:26:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18417116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AK_Luizui/pseuds/AK_Luizui
Summary: When each time you lie earns you a scar, you'd think you would be lying less now. But maybe it doesn't matter, at least for Ghost and Toast, as they have a little talk regarding secrets they hide from each other.





	Lies

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot is inspired by a prompt I found on r/WritingPrompts. Hope you enjoy^^  
> (04.15.19 - edited some grammatical errors)

     Johnny Ghost felt like he's being interrogated right now. Like he just committed a crime. In retrospect though, he did commit a crime. He had been lying to his best friend, Johnny Toast, for the past few days, and it had earned him quite a bit more scars. And now he barely took off his hoodie to hide them. Now it just looked like Toast got suspicious of them.

 _"Well, isn't this fun?"_ Jimmy hummed. Ghost groaned inside his head. The one thing he suspected the reason for this talk came.

 _"Please shut up,"_  Ghost pleaded. This was making him uncomfortable. Toast had been staring at him for the past ten minutes already.

     "Ghost."

     He flinched. Toast finally spoke to break the ice.

     "Y-yes?" Ghost stuttered, still a bit fazed.

     "Have things been bothering you?" Toast asked, his voice was more stern and authoritative than how he usually spoke. If one wasn't to know of the duo, they could mistake the Britishman being the boss. "You've been acting strange lately."

     "I'm alright, Johnny, there's nothing to worry about," Ghost said. A line scratched the surface of his flesh. For once he was glad these don't bleed, otherwise, he'd be a bloody mess.

     "Then take off your hoodie."

     "W-wait, what?" Ghost's face was starting to go pink, Jimmy in his head wheezing.

 _"Shut up, will you!?"_ Ghost yelled in his head.

     "I was saying that you take off your hoodie, sir. I need to know if you're lying. We promised that to each other, remember?" Toast's voice was back to its more softer side, his British accent still strong. "If you're not doing it then I'll do it myself."

     "No no no no, I'll do it, I'll do it," Ghost stammered, his cheeks going deeper.

     That was when he started to take off his grey hoodie, slowly revealing scars from all over his arms. Some were quite old. If it weren't for this phenomenon they would've healed. But there were some that were visibly new and fresh. Trickles of blood tried getting out but some kind of barrier didn't let them to.

     One other thing Toast noticed was how slim his arms have gotten. Ghost tend to just sit around and seldom eat, but his build still remained a little below average. Yet now it seemed as if he was barely eating. Toast asked, "Is that it?"

     Then he started to take off the usual black shirt he wears under his hoodie. His cheeks started to go even pinker. As he was midway, little scars go around his noticeably paler waist.

     And once his torso was fully revealed, there was a huge scar across his chest. Something around a week old. Ghost looked away and immediately lowered back his shirt.

     The duo remained silent for a few more seconds, and finally Toast spoke. "Everything. Now."

     "I..."

     Ghost stopped. Was he really gonna say that all this time he was Jimmy Casket and only a week ago did Jimmy made him remember what happens every time he blacks out or what happens at night, or how it seems they could never catch the serial killer. That every night since then he could only think that he's killed so many innocent people, that he's stained himself with blood countless times? All his dreams of a paranormal investigator put to waste? What would Toast think of him? Will he leave him? Or worse, kill him? Knowing that it would end the killings of Casket? Would he be willing to kill his own best friend? What if he doesn't even think they were friends in the first place?

     Ghost knew he didn't have a choice, considering his upper half was exposed and ready to show off any more lies. He tried to formulate his confession, but before he could try to speak, his brown eyes suddenly turned red and his skin turned pale. His black shirt shifted to red, covered with a black torn jacket. He sat there still for a good second or three, then he started laughing. A maniacal laugh. Toast stepped away, sitting back in his own chair.

     The laughing stopped when he finally lifted his head to reveal a wide grin, red eyes that were nearly glowing staring into Toast's contrasting blue eyes.

     "Heya, Toaster!" he exclaimed, his voice significantly higher than Ghost's. He waved his hands like a little child talking to his imaginary friend.

 _"No! Let me out!"_  Ghost yelled.

     Jimmy replied,  _"Shhhh, you'll see what happens next."_

     "So you've shown yourself to him. I knew you'd show up once I ask him," Toast said, crossing his arms.

 _"W-what?"_  Ghost stammered.  _"H-he knew?"_

     Jimmy smirked. "You could've just called me, you know. I'd still pop up. You shouldn't be so hard on Ghost, you should've heard the thoughts in his head," He chuckled. Ghost was speechless. Did all this time, Toast knew he has been Jimmy Casket?

     Toast ignored him and instead leaned closer to the table, sternly asking Jimmy, who remained his grinning face. "Have you told him?" He asked.

     "Noooooo....." Jimmy prolonged.  _"Told me!? Told me what!? Jimmy, explain this!"_

     Toast sighed out of relief, relaxing back in his chair and closing his eyes. "But why show yourself to him?"

     "I got bored," Jimmy shrugged. "I mean, why not, am I right?"

     "And," Toast began, opening his eyes again and brushing off his raven hair. "How come you haven't killed me yet?"

     Jimmy paused for a second, pretending to think of a response. "You see, Toaster, this thing you got with Ghostie over here got me have...a barrier that disables me to let you greet Knifey," he said, his voice surprisingly sounding normal. Almost as if he was just an average human, and nearly sounding like Johnny Ghost.

     Toast raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

     Then Jimmy slammed his hand on the table and started laughing maniacally again. "I was joking, you dumbass! Of course there wouldn't be some weird 'barrier', in fact, I could kill you right now!" He jumps at the table and inches closer to Toast's face, who slowly tries to look away. Then Jimmy backed off again, sitting back at his chair. "But I won't."

     It took a few seconds before Toast could respond again from the shock. "...why?"

     "'Cause I'm saving you for last, obviously," he grinned. Ghost noticed from the corner of his eye, a small scar forming at his wrist, nearly hidden by his jacket.

 _"You're lying,"_  Ghost muttered. Jimmy physically frowned for a split second before going back to his smile, with Ghost not noticing.  _"Now bring back my body! Please! I need to ask Johnny."_

 _"You wanna talk to him? Sure, I'll give you that,"_ Jimmy said as he leaned closer to Toast.

     "Let me tell ya something," Jimmy started. "Ghost can hear our conversation, right here, right now."

     "Wait, that means-" Toast stopped when he sees the red eyes dissipate back to chocolate brown. Ghost stood up, tears starting to form in his eyes.

     "You knew all this time!?" He yelled. "All this time, and you didn't tell me!?"

     "Sir-"

     "And what do you mean if Jimmy's told me!? What is it he's not telling me yet!?" Ghost's tears started to stream down his face. He could barely hear Jimmy now, who was making comments of his sudden outburst.

     "Please calm d-"

     "No, I won't calm down! How can I calm down when here I was trying to hide how I'm Jimmy when all this time you've known about it without telling me!"

     "Joh-"

     "How long?" Ghost asked quietly, sniffing. Toast looked at him, guilt written in his face.

     "...a few months."

     "That long? Meanwhile I've only known about it for two weeks! And yet you were the one who said we shouldn't lie to each other," He began to go up the stairs, Toast standing up to try and stop him.

     "No, please, let me explain-"

     "Don't talk to me. At least not now," he said, not even looking at Toast. He felt him tugging his sleeve but he brushed it off and proceeded to go up the stairs and to his bedroom, slamming the door shut.

     Toast stayed there quietly, looking back at what had just transpired the past few minutes. Ghost was right. He was a liar. A huge liar. He's been lying to his friend for months. And for what? Toast thought it was to protect Ghost, that he thought he would break down from the revelation. But he never considered what Jimmy would do, or if his predictions would've been right if Ghost knew. He was stupid.

     He covered his face in realizing his mistakes. He wanted to forget this. He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the lower cabinets.

     He opened the lid and poured it in his shot glass, drinking one shot and laughing at himself. Toast has told Ghost that he'd stop drinking too much whiskey after he was being told about it plenty times. But look at him now, drinking one shot and then another after his failure. He had been selling macaroni again, too. This was just making him a bigger liar than he currently was to Ghost.

     He laid his head on his arm after another shot.  _'I really am stupid...'_  he thought.

***

     Ghost sat by his bedroom door, hugging his knees and sniffling softly at his sleeves.

     "Wow, I was not expecting you doing that," Jimmy said, appearing in the mirror that stood in the corner of his bedroom. He was in the same stance as Ghost but in his own clothes and an expression that was somehow a look of amusement.

     "You could do that?" Ghost asked silently, standing up closer at the mirror, Jimmy following.

     "Yep. Got a buncha tricks up my sleeve, thought I'll show this off," Jimmy chuckled. A genuine one, for the matter. Ghost wiped the tears in his eyes and looked closer at the mirror. It was only now he noticed closely what Jimmy looked like.

     He saw how pale the other was compared to himself. True, he wasn't as pale as Toast, but it was definitely nearing that range. His teeth had small fangs. His body was slimmer than Ghost's, and very light and small scars could be seen around his neck and collarbone. Seeing the scars made Ghost remind of earlier. He wasn't sure if he could talk to Toast anytime soon at this rate. Who knows what he's doing at this moment?

     Ghost remained silent for a few more seconds before speaking. "How did he find out?"

     "Oh, I made a huge noise when trying to jump from your window and he found me," Jimmy replied. Ghost stared at the reflection in disbelief. "He even tied me at your basement and interrogated me. I wasn't in the mood to answer much so I turned back. But before that, I told him I might show up to you in the future."

     The two got silent for a minute. "You know..." Jimmy started, causing Ghost to jump a little from the sudden talk. "I heard you about catching me lying about killing Toast."

     Ghost looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "I did. You're not saving him for last, are you?"

     "No. 'Cause I'm not killing him."

     "You're not?" Ghost's eyes widen. "But like, you kill people for a living!"

     "I kill people to cope," Jimmy shrugged.

     "That doesn't make sense."

     "We both don't make sense."

     "Yeah, but no one goes around asking people if they want to know their secret just before stabbing them to death!"

     "Touché. I don't even know what that means."

     "Me neither."

     There was silence again. This was probably the most mundane conversation he ever had with Jimmy, Ghost thought. Though he had only been talking to him for around two weeks. He looked around his room and stopped when he sees the door. He asked, "Does he know your secret?"

     "Try recalling earlier," Jimmy replied.

     Ghost thought. Obviously he still remembered about earlier and started recalling it.

_"Have you told him?"_

     "So he knows," Ghost said quietly. Jimmy nodded. "How many lies has he been telling me?"

     "Dunno, don't think we have nightly conversations about secrets we hide from you. I only know about things related to me," he rolled his eyes. "Why care so much about Toast?"

     "Because..." Ghost looked away from the mirror, placing his hands on his hoodie pockets. "He was the only one that cared about me. And just as he ironically said, 'We shouldn't lie to each other, no matter what.' I wonder if all these years everything was just a lie, that he was only there for me out of pity. I must be a burden to him. Even if he wasn't lying, I would still be a bad friend for not telling him about you," Ghost said, eyes starting to tear up again a little.

     Jimmy groaned. "Ughhh, you really are a crybaby ever since, I swear."

     "I am not!"

     "I'm in your head for more years, Johnny, of course I would know."

     "Just-ugh! Shut up! Okay? I guess I'm just..really emotional or something..." He said, wiping again his tears. Jimmy didn't reply, looking at him as Ghost attempted to stop his tears, to a near success. "Look, I should probably just quit the business so he could continue with his own life or something.."

     "Don't," Jimmy said, his voice got deeper and his eyes glowed even more.

     "W-wha- why would YOU of all people say I shouldn't quit?" Ghost asked, jumping a bit from the sudden voice change.

     "Just..don't. I don't think Toast would think you're a burden," Jimmy said quietly, voice back to "normal".

     "How would you know that?"

     "'Cause I do, alright!? Just go talk to him right now!" Jimmy demanded. Ghost's eyes turned red and suddenly stood up and walked towards the door, still retaining the appearance of Ghost.

 _"What do you think you're doing!? Give me my body back!"_ He yelled. Jimmy ignored him and only continued going down the stairs. He looked around the first floor and he saw Toast sitting by the dining table, head hidden by his arms and one hand holding an empty shot glass. Ghost's eyes widened to see the half-empty bottle of whiskey next to him.  _"No...he was drinking again."_

     His eyes revert back to brown and he quickly got closer to his partner, tapping his shoulder to wake him up. "Johnny? Johnny, are you awake?"

     Toast groaned as his head slowly rose up to face Ghost. His eyes met with Ghost's, a look Ghost couldn't seem to deduce what it meant. He was already here, so he guessed he should just go and tell him now.

     "Johnny, I....I'm sorry," Ghost wrapped his arms around Toast. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, it was my fault, you shouldn't have helped me back then, or supported me at all because now you're stuck here having to deal with a mess like me when you could spend your life as a royal and maybe I could've stopped Jimmy on my own and-"

     "Sir," Toast said, getting out of Ghost's embrace. He brushed off some of Ghost's messy hair that was covering his puffy eyes. "I should be the one apologizing. I've been lying to you for so long, I thought it was to protect you but it only made you worse. I shouldn't have done that to you."

     He continued, "And you're not a burden to me. I enjoy hunting ghosts with you, even if you have a serial killer inside your head. And I don't even care about my royal blood, with all the things I've done while I'm here I doubt they'd choose me as an heir one day," he chuckled, "So please, sir, know that it was my choice to be with you. It's not your fault."

     Ghost continued to sob a little when Toast kissed his forehead. Ghost's cheeks started to go darker but abruptly stopped as they looked into each other again before smiling together.

 _"Oh, ew, I shouldn't have told you to talk to him,"_ Jimmy groaned in disgust. Ghost scoffed inside his head and replied,  _"Oh, shut it. Thanks for the help,_ _I_ _appreciate it."_

 _"I wasn't trying to help, damnit!"_ Jimmy yelled, then muttered,  _"I just want this stupid drama over.."_

     "What is it, sir?" Toast asked when Ghost got silent. He shook his head, chuckling. "Nothing, just talking to Jimmy."

     "Alright then, sir."

     "Also, Johnny, if I catch you drinking again I will ban you from going to Disneyworld," Ghost said, earning a laugh from Jimmy.

     "...yes, I promise. So, do you perhaps want to watch a movie together?" Toast suggested. Ghost's eyes lit up as Jimmy whisper-yelled  _'Watch Frozen!'_.

     "Heck yeah, let's rewatch some Frozen!"


End file.
